This is a request-blog entry.
We probably still want someone to do something with this idea (see our writers' guidelines).Discuss below.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Call for Submissions

Metaphilm is in the active process of pitching a book proposal, and our agent has suggested we attempt to seek roughly 50% new, unpublished material in Metaphilm’s signature “smart, audacious” style, accessible to a wide variety of readers by virtue of writing style and film selection.

Choose a film that has not been covered but that is widely known (even by those who haven’t seen it, such as Jaws, The Godfather, It’s a Wonderful Life, etc.—films so well-known that you don’t have to see them to know them), and then interpret it according to your favorite secret pet theory that only you believe, but with the kind of evidence that will engage your readers, entertain them, and persuade at least some of them to believe you by the end. Silly or serious, sacred or profane, we’re looking for that mix of outrageousness and plausibility that just might make your reader think. Having your reader laughing out loud or having their hair standing up on the back of their neck at the end is always a good sign that you’ve achieved something.

Send all submissions by March 1, 2005 to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) As always, read our disclaimer which essentially says this: we can’t pay you anything, but we can make you famous, loved, and appreciated for your genius online and now, in print.

This call for submissions is specifically not for academic treatises, condensed dissertations, or jargon-filled pieces with footnotes that outweigh the body text. There is a time and place (even on Metaphilm) for those pieces, but this book is more for the average moviegoer crowd, and thus accessibility and entertainment value will be the two highest criterion by which your piece is judged. And as always, any piece not suitable for book publication will be considered for the online version. We thank you for your continued support of Metaphilm, and your willingness to help the world see through cinema the way you do.